If you were to tell a man what he can and cannot do with his body, I can guarantee that the world would turn into a warzone. Why then, does it seem in any way okay to tell a woman that she cannot have an abortion?

One of the top arguments I hear about being pro-life is that it takes away an innocent baby’s life. However, no matter how you decide to spin it, an abortion has nothing to do with a baby, it has to do with a woman’s body and a collection of cells that cannot yet be considered a life inside of it.

The basis of human life is consciousness. It is not until weeks 12-16 that fetuses begin to develop higher brain function, whereas week 8-9 is where the first brain activity (similar to that of an insect), can be detected. In the case of consciousness being the argument, then abortion should be allowed within at least the first 8-9 weeks, if not reasonably within 12-16.

In many cases women do not even realize they’re pregnant within the first 6 weeks of pregnancy, where they would reasonably be only a week or two late from there last period, which is when the new Texas law suggests a woman has to have their abortion by. The law denies exceptions to even cases of rape or incest, where it will be detrimental to a woman’s mental health to carry out with a pregnancy.

With Texas denying abortion rights to cases involving rape, we now have not one, but at least two violations of a woman’s right to her own body. Not only does a woman in this case have to carry the mental and emotional burden of such a horrible trauma, but also the physical, financial, and legal burden. At the absolute very least, there has to be exceptions to these laws.

What pro-choicers are asking for is not to “kill all babies” or to take away innocent lives. What’s being asked is for the choice to decide the fate of any woman or family affected by a pregnancy.

What these laws do is provide a tunnel-vision view for pro-lifers to think of abortion as immoral and evil, when in reality there are so many cases, if not every case, where other options must be a choice.

Denying abortions is denying rape culture, denying bodily rights, denying women’s rights, denying safety, exceptions, explanations, and choice. If we can agree that a body is a personal sanction that should be allowed an opportunity of health choices in general, then there should be no argument regarding a woman’s right to an abortion.

If you don’t want an abortion, do not have an abortion, but do not let a group of men deny a woman the right to choose for herself whether or not she wants to face all that comes with pregnancy and childbirth. If abortion makes you sad, do not get one, or better yet, think about an instance where that sadness would be overruled by another more pressing issue in your own life, where you would want the choice.

Choices are things people make every single day. We choose what we eat in the morning, what we wear, what we say. We value our ability to make choices, so why would we take someone else’s away?